If you value workplace productivity, let that World Cup fever spread through your office, one group of researchers is saying.
According to Wilfrid Laurier University psychology professor Anne Wilson, despite the distraction, letting workers enjoy the beautiful game can actually be a good thing for business.
“People talk a lot about the potential for lost productivity, and there certainly is that potential,” said Wilson, a researcher at Waterloo-based Plasticity Labs. “But as a manager, if you leverage that for positive effect rather than for negative effect, it can actually end up transforming into something more positive for your company in the long-run.”
Wilson told CTV News Channel on Saturday that the bonds built between co-workers enjoying a common activity will outweigh any short-term losses.
“That’s not going to have an impact just for today when you’re watching the game, but it’s going to have an impact for years to come on the company.”
Vanessa Buote, another researcher at Plasticity Labs, agrees. Her research shows that people with reasons to be grateful at work are ultimately more satisfied with their job. And a satisfied worker is more productive, and more likely to want to keep their job long-term.
Letting workers watch the World Cup, Buote said, would probably make them grateful.
“It creates a bond. It creates social connection and a sense of community,” Buote told CTV Kitchener.
“I really think that the loss of productivity compared to the benefits of creating those social bonds and those social connections – I don’t even think it compares.”
